


Discovery

by Ladybug_21



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25420564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladybug_21/pseuds/Ladybug_21
Summary: It's examining the mundane little details of their life together that makes Maggie fall in love with Jocelyn all over again.
Relationships: Jocelyn Knight/Maggie Radcliffe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65





	Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, I own no rights to _Broadchurch_.

Maggie knew that most of her friends in Broadchurch were still at least a _little_ intimidated by Jocelyn. On some level, she didn't blame them. Most people in town knew Jocelyn first and foremost from the Joe Miller trial, and in court, Jocelyn was indeed a most formidable presence. The bold self-assurance with which the barrister conducted herself in trial was what had captivated Maggie from the first time she lay eyes on Jocelyn Knight QC. Which made it all the more surprising to Maggie, when she approached Jocelyn outside of court and discovered just how reserved she was on a personal level.

But Maggie was an investigator, and she loved a good challenge. It took years and years to coax Jocelyn out of her shell, bit by bit, chat after chat, until the barrister finally came to trust Maggie enough to reciprocate her attention and her affection. Only then did Jocelyn truly open up to the journalist, confess her attraction, let Maggie kiss her and touch her and love her, the way that Maggie had longed to for years on end. Jocelyn was a map that Maggie had examined at length, and finally getting the chance to explore the terrain that Maggie had only imagined was exhilarating, as she slowly and gently learned Jocelyn's secrets, her needs, her desires.

And this in itself was breathtaking, but what Maggie found she loved best were the smaller moments of discovery that made the imposing giant of the courtroom seem entirely human. How Jocelyn wore a mouthguard to keep her from anxiously grinding her teeth together at night. How Jocelyn hated when dishes were left in the sink for too long, and how she seemed incapable of turning off the kitchen light in the evenings if there still were dishes even just left on the draining board. How Jocelyn ferociously fought the impulse to sleep if she still had work to do, and how she compromised between her desk and her bed by retreating to the sofa, begrudgingly conceding to gravity if not to slumber (although Maggie often later found her there, asleep regardless).

Maggie was a journalist; she knew that details were what made a piece pop. She relished teasing out the quirkier angles and filling the lingering gaps in any narrative, just as much as Jocelyn doggedly strove to seal up all of the holes in her own walls of evidence. Perhaps even more so than Jocelyn's disclosures of her most deep-felt insecurities, or Maggie's discoveries of the exact places on Jocelyn's body that most craved the pressure of Maggie's mouth, the mundane and quotidian details were what made their relationship concrete and solid and so inexpressibly _real_. Maggie had been taken out to dinner by plenty of women, had slept with plenty of women, had fallen in love with plenty of women. And yet, some days, she found herself contemplating her and Jocelyn's toothbrushes nestled next to each other in their holder on the bathroom sink counter; or how their book collections had merged indistinguishably into one another across the shelves; and how those simple images captured the settled reassurance of their commitment to one another, how effortlessly and comfortably entwined their lives were.

Jocelyn was very good at presenting a certain façade to the rest of the world. It always blew Maggie away slightly to realise that, when Jocelyn said, "That concludes the case for the Crown," she, Maggie, was the only one who understood the phrase to mean, "And now I'd like nothing better than to go home and decompress while Maggie throws dinner together." Recognising anew that she was the only one who had ever fully discovered the quiet meaning underlying much of what Jocelyn said or did was enough to make Maggie fall in love with the barrister all over again.

(That discovery of the subtler meanings of things went both ways, of course. Sometimes, Jocelyn caught Maggie gazing at her and asked, "What are you thinking?" Maggie usually simply shrugged casually and said, "Nothing," and then planted a soft kiss on Jocelyn's mouth. But the barrister understood perfectly, nonetheless; and, with a small smile, she fell in love with Maggie all over again, too.)


End file.
